Poor lighting, transport turn Chakan industry hub unsafe

PUNE: Last month, an employee of the Automotive Research Association of India’s centre at Nigoje in the Chakan industrial estate waiting for transport late in the night was forced by some unidentified men into a car, assaulted and robbed of his belongings worth Rs 25,000. The robbery came close on the heels of a similar crime in which an employee of a multinational auto giant located in the same area was thrashed and robbed by unknown men last month. The victim was so traumatised that he left his job. It’s not just the lack of civic amenities but, safety and a steadily rising street crimes and lift robberies have become a major issue for thousands of employees of different industries in Chakan estate which is home to a special economic zone and is a hub for some of the world’s leading automotive companies. “The crime scenario in Chakan MIDC area is a cause of grave concern for us,” Dilip Batwal, vice president of the Federation of Chakan Industries (FCI), who has been pursuing problems related to the industrial belt with various agencies, told TOI on Tuesday. “Night robberies, street crimes and minor offences are common in the area,” he said. Chakan police station in-charge inspector Manoj Yadav conceded that, “On an average, we register three to four cases from the industrial area, mainly night robberies and street crimes.” According to Batwal the affected employees desist from reporting the matter to the police out of fear. The police registered 1,088 criminal cases from January to October this year, including serious offences like murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and robberies. Sources in Pune Rural police said the figure is on the higher side compared to last year. Patronage to criminal gangs by small political leaders is also another problem. Sources said, part of the problem lies in the fact that the Chakan police station has a vast jurisdiction of 50km radius to cover including 70 villages apart from the industrial estate. The area has witnessed an exponential growth population and rapid development over the last five years. This also brought new settlers, particularly from outside Pune and Maharashtra. Inspector Yadav pointed out, “There are isolated pockets in the industrial estate where street lights are either non-existent or not functioning. Access to public transport is also an issue. Industrial employees have to either rely on company or private transport. Often, the employees without such transport, they take lifts from private vehicles leading to crime. The MIDC must focus on setting up basic infrastructure like internal roads and street lights.”

A senior police officer from Pune Rural police said, “A proposal to set up Mhalunge MIDC police station to focus on curbing crime in the industrial estate is pending with the state government.” C E Patil, chief engineer of MIDC Chakan, said, “We are replacing street lights over the next three months. In some pockets, the roads have not been constructed due to land acquisition issues.”